Some cookies are essential to ensure our website works for you. You may block or delete all cookies from this site but parts of the site may not work. To find out more about how we use cookies, see our privacy statement.

Overview

This 4K DisplayPort docking station for laptops offers a cost-effective way to create a simpler but highly functional Ultra HD workstation that can be used in permanent workspaces, or by multiple people in guest or hoteling (hot desk) environments.

If you don’t need all the connections and features of a traditional laptop docking station, you can use this dock to add the most essential connections (such as an extra high-resolution display) to your laptop. With support for 4K cinema-quality resolution, it’s great for graphic and web designers, video editors, and more.

Now you or your colleagues can be more productive and create an efficient and comfortable workspace, even in an area with minimal desk space.

This laptop dock features basic device connections that are integrated into a small foot-print housing. Now you can create a permanent or a hoteling (hot desking) workstation in a location with limited space. The dock offers an efficient solution for adding an extra display, a Gigabit network connection, and multiple USB devices without having to connect several individual adapters. And, with hotel desks or hot desks, laptop users aren’t tied to one specific workstation, so they can come and go easily.

The DP dock offers simpler connectivity, so you can save money by avoiding a docking station that has connections you might never use. It’s perfect for anyone who needs to expand their connectivity in virtually any environment or application.

It’s a cost-effective docking station that still provides all the fundamental ports of a full-size workstation, such as an DisplayPort output, and when paired with your laptop display, you can easily set up dual monitors.

The 4K dock is perfect for professionals who work with highly detailed graphics, or large spreadsheets, such as engineers, animators, and financial analysts.

Compact design maximizes your available space

If you’re running out of physical workspace, this USB 3.0 (also known as USB 3.1 Gen 1 - 5Gbps) docking station can help. Its compact design occupies minimal surface area, so you can integrate it into smaller areas than traditional docking stations or desktop computers would require.

By maximizing your available space, the compact dock can help eliminate the added cost and hassle of purchasing more offices, cubicles, or desks.

With fewer ports integrated into a small foot-print housing, the dock is a perfect fit for short-term work areas (hot desks). It’s ideal for mass deployment in business, classroom, computer lab, and government settings. Plus, it integrates nicely into home-office or office-hoteling workspaces that have limited space.

Always-on fast-charge port makes charging easier

You can avoid the aggravation of a dead battery and make sure your mobile device is always ready to go, using the dock’s USB fast-charge and sync port. Plus, the always-on USB port supports device charging even when your laptop isn’t connected to the dock.

When you’re in a hurry, the easily accessible USB port charges your smartphone or tablet faster than traditional USB ports. This front-panel port ensures your mobile device is always within arm’s reach, so you can simultaneously get your work done while enjoying convenient device charging at your workstation.

Universally supported

Unlike some proprietary docking stations designed only to work with specific laptop models, this universal laptop dock works with multiple brands. All you need is your laptop’s USB 3.0 port and you can be up and running quickly. With universal support, you can use this dock with different laptops now, or in the future.

The USB3VDOCK4DP is backed by a StarTech.com 3-year warranty and free lifetime technical support.

Applications

Create a 4K hoteling, guest workstation (hot desk) for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) users, or for CYOD (Choose Your Own Device) applications where companies offer a selection of laptops that can be used at one workstation

Take full advantage of Ultra HD technology, and connect a single 4K monitor with higher resolutions and superior quality, even if your laptop video card doesn't natively support it

Save money by using a dock with only the ports you need, or by deploying just one universal laptop docking station for several employees or guests

Works with most USB 3.0 equipped laptops, such as your Ultrabook™, Microsoft® Surface™ Pro, Surface Book, Surface 3, Lenovo® Yoga, MacBook, and many Windows based tablets

Create a single-video workstation that’s ideal for small or home offices, as well as small, medium, and large businesses

Manuals

Data Sheets

Frequently Asked Questions

Before You Buy

Whether this device works with the Chrome OS™ operating system or not depends on the version of the Chrome OS operating system that you’re running and the model of the Chromebook™ notebook computer that you’re using.

Existing DisplayLink® enabled USB 3.0 products natively support Chrome OS build version R55 and later, but not all Chromebook notebook computers running build version R55 and later natively support DisplayLink. Support for DisplayLink is being rolled out to Chromebook notebook computers in a series of releases. To see the build version of the Chrome OS operating system that supports DisplayLink and corresponds to the model of the Chromebook notebook that you’re using, view the following knowledge base article on the DisplayLink website: http://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/891030.

Was this information helpful?Yes No

You can use an external display or projector with a Mac notebook while its built-in display is closed. This is known as "clamshell" or "closed display" mode.

Clamshell mode requires that the following devices are connected to the Mac notebook:

A power adapter.

An external keyboard, mouse, or trackpad.

An external display.

macOS does not see DisplayLink displays as external displays, therefore this criteria is not met and clamshell mode cannot be enabled when a DisplayLink adapter is the only external display connected to the computer.

Was this information helpful?Yes No

Installation

Note: Do not physically connect the laptop docking station to your computer until instructed to (Step 7).

Download the latest drivers from the StarTech.com website (http://www.startech.com/Support). You can find the part number and product ID on the product’s packaging.

Note: Mac OS X will typically save the files to the Downloads folder that is associated with your user account (for example, hard_drive_name\Users\your_name\Downloads).

Double-click the DisplayLink.zip file.

Double-click the MAC OS folder.

Double-click the appropriate folder for your operating system.

Double-click the DisplayLink Installer 75598.dmg file.

Follow the prompts to install the new drivers. Restart the computer when prompted.

Once Mac OS X has restarted, connect the laptop docking station to your computer.

Note: Installation might take several seconds to complete. During the installation your display might flicker; this is normal. Once the installation has completed you will see your Macintosh desktop extended to any connected monitors.

Was this information helpful?Yes No

How to

In Device Manager, under the appropriate heading, confirm that your expansion card is listed and that there isn't an exclamation mark next to it. For example, a USB controller card would be under Universal Serial Bus controllers.

Your USB device is listed according to the name of the chipset. To determine the name of the chipset of your USB device, navigate to www.StarTech.com and look on the Technical Specifications tab for your product.

Was this information helpful?Yes No

To confirm that the Mac OS detects your USB device, complete the following:

Click the Apple icon.

Click About This Mac.

Click More Info or System Report.

Under the appropriate heading, confirm that your USB device is listed and that there isn't an error. For example, a network card would be under Ethernet Cards.

You may need to refresh the System Information page after you plug in your device. To do so, press Command + R with the System Information page open.

Your USB device is listed according to the name of the chipset. To determine the name of the chipset of your USB device, navigate to www.StarTech.com and look on the Technical Specifications tab for your product.

Was this information helpful?Yes No

Troubleshooting

DisplayLink powered USB video adapters and docking stations are not compatible with any MacBook running macOS 10.13.4 - 10.13.6. If a system has updated to macOS 10.13.4, 10.13.5, or 10.13.6, upgrading to macOS 10.14 (Mojave) is an option for users to restore DisplayLink functionality.

At this time, the DisplayLink compatibility issue also affects any 2018 MacBook Pro laptops with an Intel Coffee Lake CPU running macOS 10.14. Please see the DisplayLink site for a driver download workaround. This workaround will force AirPlay to extend or mirror one USB display.

For alternative product recommendations including our catalog of Thunderbolt™ products, connect with our Technical Advisory team at the bottom of our Support page.

Was this information helpful?Yes No

If the display connected through your USB display adapter does not wake up after your computer has been in extended hibernation, it is likely that Windows has automatically turned off the USB Root hub to save power.

The steps below outline how to configure the USB root hub to stay on during hibernation, to prevent this from happening.

Windows 8 / 10

On your keyboard, press the Windows key + X and select Control Panel.

Click Hardware and Sound, then click Power Options.

Click Change plan settings for the plan you want to change.

Click Change advanced power settings.

Click the plus sign (+) next to “USB settings” and “USB selective suspend setting” to expand the options and change the setting to Disabled.

Click OK to apply the setting.

Note: You may need to disconnect and re-connect your USB display adapter after applying these settings to re-establish the connection.

Windows 7 / Vista

Click the Start button and select Control Panel.

Click Hardware and Sound, then click Power Options.

Click Change plan settings for the plan you want to change.

Click Change advanced power settings.

Click the plus sign (+) next to “USB settings” and “USB selective suspend setting” to expand the options and change the setting to Disabled.

Click OK to apply the setting.

Note: You may need to disconnect and re-connect your USB display adapter after applying these settings to re-establish the connection.

Was this information helpful?Yes No

When you troubleshoot issues with a laptop docking station, there are some quick tests that you can complete to rule out potential problems. You can test to make sure that the following components are working correctly and are not the source of the issue:

Video cables

Video source

Video destination

Laptop Docking Station

USB peripherals

Ethernet Connection

To test your setup components, try the following:

Use the video cables, video source, video destination, laptop docking station, USB peripherals, and Ethernet connection in another setup to see if the problem is with the components or the setup.

Use a different video cable, video source, video destination, laptop docking station, USB peripherals, and Ethernet connection setup to see if the problem persists. Ideally, you should test a component that you know works in another setup.

When you test your cables, it is recommended that you do the following:

Test each cable individually.

Use short cables when you are testing.

When you test the video cables, video source, video destination, and laptop docking station it is recommended that you do the following:

If the device is listed with an error, reinstall the drivers following the instructions on the website.

Check to see if your video card drivers are current. You can check what video card you have in Device Manager under Display adapters. It is recommended that you go directly to the video card manufacturer's website to check for the latest drivers.

Was this information helpful?Yes No

If hardware acceleration is enabled on any of your software applications, it can result in poor resource management and limit the performance of your video device. If you experience this problem, you should disable hardware acceleration in the program(s) that were impacted.

To disable hardware acceleration in common applications and operating systems, complete one of the following series of steps, depending on what software application(s) or operating system that you are running.

Internet Explorer 9 and later

Note: Earlier versions of Internet Explorer do not use hardware acceleration.

Click the Start button.

Open Control Panel.

Click Network and Internet.

Click Internet Options.

Click the Advanced tab.

Browse to the Accelerated graphics screen.

Select the Use software rendering instead of GPU rendering check box.

Click Apply.

Restart your computer.

Mozilla Firefox

Open Firefox.

Press the Alt key.

Click Toolsand Options.

Click the Advanced icon.

Click the General tab.

Under Browsing, clear the Use hardware acceleration when available check box.

Click the OK button.

Restart your web browser.

Google Chrome

Open Google Chrome.

Click the Options icon (it has three horizontal lines on it).

Click Settings.

Click Show advanced settings.

Scroll to the bottom of the screen and clear the Use hardware acceleration when available check box.

Was this information helpful?Yes No

To output 4K to a DisplayPort display at 30Hz, your monitor must support the resolution and refresh rate. If your monitor also supports 4K at 60Hz (DP 1.2 or higher), you may also need to set the monitor to work at 30Hz.

To resolve this issue, use the buttons on your monitor to change the DisplayPort settings to DP1.1. For more information about how to change your monitor settings, refer to the website of the manufacturer of your monitor.